Gotthold langer



(No Model.) I 3 Sheets-Sheet 1.

G. LANG MOTOR VEH Patented Dec. 15,- 1896.

WITNESSES: INVENTOH X. m G'otfizoTdIanye I /1.. v

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(No Model.) 3 Sheets-Sheet .2.

' G. LANGER.

MOTOR VEHICLE. No. 673,010. Patented Dec. 15,1896.

lNVENZOl? WITNESSES:

601 1571 07ci /Zan e7:

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TNE Nonms prrzns co, PMOTO-LITHO., WASHINGTON. u, c.

(No Model.)

3 SheetsSheet 3. G LANGER MOTOR VEHICLE.

Patented Dec. 15, 1896.

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UNITED STATES PATENT 'Orrrcn.

GOTTIIOLD LANGER, OF ST. LOUIS, MI SSOURI, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TO GEORGE V. RARER, OF SAME PLACE MOTOR-VEHICLE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 573,010, dated December 15, 1896.

- Application filed March 2, 1896. Serial No. 581,521. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: the outer rim bythe: spokes 6. The inner Be it known that I, GOTTHOLD LANGER, a band is provided with an inwardly-projectcitizen of the United States, residing at St. ing rib 7, having inclined lateral faces, the Louis, State of Missouri, have invented cerfree edge of the rib being the narrowest por- 5" 5 tain new and useful Improvements in Motortion thereof. The rib is disposed medially Vehicles, of which the following is a full, between the opposite edges or sides of the clear, and exact description, reference being band 5, the purpose of said rib being fully had to the accompanying drawings, forming set forth in the further description of the ina part hereof. vention. 10 My invention has relation to improvements Carried on each side of the body portion in horseless vehicles or motor-wagons; and it of the carriage adjacent to the ribs 7 and consists in the novel arrangement and comconforming approximately to the curvature bination of parts more fully set forth in the thereof are castings 8, serving as a means for specification and pointed out in the claims. the support of the series of rollers 9, the lat- 15 In the drawings, Figure l is a side elevater being adapted to be supported by and tion of my invention. Fig. 2 is a horizontal travel overtheinner edge of the ribs 7. These section on the line w a: of Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a rollers 9, however, may be grooved, as seen section on a a of Fig. 2, taken through the in Fig. 6 and represented by 9, where the gasolene-cylinder of the engine and the wabases of the grooves run on and are supported 2o tor-jacket thereof. Fig. -lis an enlarged secby the edges of the ribs.

tion of one end of the drive-shaft, taken on Carried on suitable transverse supportingthe line b b of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a transverse bars 10, disposed below the body portion of section on the line a c of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a the vehicle, is a double-cylindergasolene-ensection of one of the modified forms of supgine having a gasolenesupply tank 11 sur- 7 2 5 porting-rollers for the carriage-body, and Fig. rounded by a water-jacket 12, the engine be- 7 is a side elevation of a modified form of velonging to any of the approved forms which hicle. will develop the necessary horse-power to op- The object of my invention is to construct crate the vehicle. a horseless Vehicle or motor-wagon that may The drive-sl1aft13 of the engine is disposed 0 be impelled by any suitable motor, but preftransversely to the body portion, the shaft I erably by a gasolene-engine; one which will passing through the bearings 14:, which are be light, durable, and under perfect control also supported by the bars 10 and firmly se of the operator; one which shall run with a cured thereto. The drive-shaft projects a minimum amount of friction; one in which suitable distance beyond the bearings 14 on 3 5 the body of the carriage shall be supported each side of the vehicle, each bearing being directly by a hubless wheel disposed on each provided with a tubular extension 15 on the side of said body, whereby the carriage can side adjacent to the projecting end of the be entered through the opening of said wheel; shaft and embracing the latter. The termione where special steering apparatus is disnal surface or end of said tubular extension 4o pensed with, the steering being accomplished is inclined, said inclined end being adapted directly from the running-gear of the device, to cooperate with a similar inclined surface and one which presents further and other adof the hub portion 16 of the rocking lever 17 vantages to be presently more specifically rethe long arm of which is connected by a conferred to. necting-rod 18 with the lower or short arm of 5 45 1 Referring to the drawings, 1 represents the a brakeoperating lever 19, pivoted at the body portion of the carriage provided with forward portion of the body of the vehicle on the side doors 2. The drive -wheels are of each side of the drivers seat 20, and the short the pattern identified with unicycles, being arm of the lever 17 is connected by aconnectformed of an outer rim 3, provided with a ing-rod 21 to the outer end or base of an arm 10c 50 pneumatic tire 4, and an inner concentric 22, projecting from or secured to a rocking band or rim 5, the latter being connected to sleeve 23, mounted loosely on arear shaft 24,

whose bearings 25 are supported on the transverse supporting-bars -26.

Forming a part of the sleeve 23 and extending in a direction opposite to that of the arm 22 is a forked brake-shoe 27, the free end of which is adapted to bear against the rib 7. Between the forks of said shoes and mounted loosely on the projecting ends of the shaft 2i are grooved rollers 28, adapted to run upon and embrace the ribs 7, the rollers thus keeping the drive-wheels close to the body of the vehicle 1. In addition the body portion has disposed thereon the antifriction-disks 29, adapted to bear and ride against the outer face of the ribs 7 on each side, thereby further locking the drive-wheels to the carriagebody. The long arm of each brake-operating lever 19 is provided with a pawl 30, adapted to be tripped by a bellcrank lever 31, carried by the lever 19, the short arm of the bellcrank lever being connected to the pawl bya connecting-rod 3-2. The pawl cooperates with a toothed quadrant 33, along which the lever 19 can be locked into any desirable position.

At each end-of the drive-shaft 13 is rigidly keyed the tubular stem 34: of a terminal disk or flange 35, the inner surface of which revolves adjacent to the outer lateral face of the rib 7, the contacting surface of the disk being inclined to correspond to the inclined face of the rib. Feathered loosely to the stem 34 by a key is a cup 37, the open end of which has formed integrally therewith a flange or disk 38,whose outer inclined or bevel face is adapted to bear against and be shifted toward the inner lateral inclined face of the rib 7, the rib being thus adapted to be gripped between the adjacent surfaces of the disks 35 and '38, the contact between each disk and its adjacent face of the bevel-rib being along a single line of contact, as in the case of bevel f riction gears. The base of the cup 37 is adapted to bear against the adjacent surface of the hub 16 of the rocking lever 17 suitable ball-bearings being interposed between the two surfaces.

For convenience I shall here denominate the disks 35 and 38 collectively as the driving and gripping disk, the cup 37, with its terminal disk 38, constituting the movable section and the disk 35 constituting the relatively stationary section of the said driving and gripping disk. As the shaft 13 rotates it will rotate the driving and gripping disk with it, and it is apparent that if the brake-operatinglevers are tilted in adirection to swing the hub 16 and lever 17, carried by it, about the shaft 13, thus causing the inclined end of each hub to revolve about the adjacent inclined wall of the tubular extension 15 of the shaftsupporting bracket 14, the movable section of the driving and gripping disk will be shifted toward the stationary section (stationary, of course, only in the sense that it does not slide longitudinally, although always in position to revolve with the shaft 13) and against the inner lateral inclined face of the rib 7, the

latter being thus firmly gripped between the two revolving sections of the driving and gripping disk, and with the rotation of the latter will be carried along, and thus rotation will be imparted to the driving-wheels, of which the ribs 7 form a part. It is to be observed that the amount or distance the movable section of the driving and gripping disk is shifted is very slight, it being exaggerated in the drawings for the sake of clearness, the actual distance being only that which will suffice to alternately grip and when the vehicle is at a standstill to release the rib and allow the shaft to revolve alone. At the same time that the levers 17 are tilted to cause the driving and gripping disk to impel the driving-wheels the brake lover or shoe 27 (by reason of the connections described) will release the rib 7, and vice versa. 'When the brakeoperating levers 19 are tilted to the same degree .and locked in position along their respective quadrants, they cause the driving and gripping disk on each end of the shaft 13 to impel their respective drive-wheels at the same velocity; but it is obvious that if the drive-wheel on one side is permitted to be impelled and the brake applied to the wheel on the opposite side of the vehicle the carriage will turn about the wheel that is locked and thus turn a corner when such occasion arises, the sharpness of the turn depending on the relative velocity of the wheels on opposite sides of the carriage. The vehicle therefore under the present construction is devoid of special steering apparatus, the steering being accomplished direct from the drive-shaft by causing one or the other of the drive-wheels to be locked against rotation.

The rollers '9 are generally constructed of hide or leather, although any equivalent material may be substituted. The front wheel 39 is mounted between the forked arms 40, whose base is pivotally secured to the bottom of the front end of the carriage.

In the modification shown in Fig. 7 1 dispense with the roller 28, and in lieu thereof I groove the last roller 41 of the series of rollers that traverse the rib of the inner band or rim. In this modification, too, the small wheel 42 is placed in the rear instead of the front, by reason of the modified form of carriage-body, which in this case is intended for a delivery-wagon.

Having described my invention, what I claim is- 1. I11 a motor-vehicle, a suitable carriagebody, drive-wheels adapted to support said body, a motor, a drive-shaft for said motor, suitable gripping devices rotated by said shaft, and means under the control of the operator for varying the amount of grip on either wheel whereby the speed of each wheel and the direction of travel of the carriage is controlled, substantially as set forth.

2. In a motor-vehicle, a suitable carriagebody, a motor carried thereby, a drive-shaft for said motor, suitable drive wheels, suitable driving mechanism interposed between the drive shaft and wheels, suitable brake mechanism for the drive-wheels, and means carried by the carriage-body for simultaneously controlling the driving and brake mechanism on each side of the carriage-body, the mechanism on one side being adapted to be controlled independently of that on the other side, substantially as set forth.

3. In a motor-vehicle, a suitable carriagebody, drive-wheels for the same, an outer and inner rim for each wheel, a rib carried by the inner rim, a motor, a drive-shaft for the motor, and means carried by the drive-shaft for gripping the rib of the inner rim of either or both wheels, during the revolution of said drive-shaft, substantially as set forth.

4. In a motor-vehicle, a suitable carriagebody, drive-wheels for the same, an outer and inner rim for each wheel, a bevel-rib forming a part of each inner rim, a suitable motor, a drive-shaft for the motor, a driving and gripping disk earried at each end of the driveshaft, said driving and gripping disk comprising a relatively stationary section and a movable section, the movable section being adapted to be shifted toward the stationary section whereby the rib is gripped and impelled with the rotation of the two sections, substantially as set forth.

5. In a motor-vel1icle, a suitable carriage body, drive-wheels for the same, an outer and inner rim for each wheel, a bevehrib carried by the inner rim of each Wheel, a motor, a drive-shaft for the motor, suitable bearings for the shaft, a tubular portion forming a part of each bearing and embracing the shaft, an inclined end for said tubular portion, a hub having a lever-arm loosely mounted on the shaft adjacent to the tubular portion of the bearing and having an inclined end cooperating with the inclined end of the tnbular portion of the bearing, a stationary rotating disk carried by the free end of the shaft, said terminal diskhavin g an inclined or bevel face adapted to cooperate with one of the inclined faces of the rib, a cup slidingly feathered about the shaft and having a terminal disk adapted to be shifted toward the oppo site inclined face of the rib, said second or movable disk also having an inclined face adapted to cooperate with the inclined adjacent face of the rib, ball-bearings interposed between the rotatable hub and the base of the cup, and suitable devices for oscillating the lever-arm of the hub whereby the movable or sliding cup and the disk carried thereby may be shifted toward the relatively stationary disk and toward the rib, and whereby the rib may be firmly gripped between the two disks and impelled during the rotation of the drive-shaft carrying the disks, substantially as set forth.

6. In a motor-vehicle, a suitable wheel, an outer and inner rim for the same, a bevel-rib forming a part of the inner rim, and means for gripping said rib and impelling the Wheel, substantially as set forth.

7 In a motor-vehicle, a suitable carriagebody, a motor for the same, a drive-shaft for said motor, drive-wheels, an outer and inner rim for each wheel, a rib forming part of the inner rim, suitable rollers carried by the ear riage-body and adapted to rest and travel over the rib, a driving and gripping disk carried at each end of the drive-shaft and adapted to embrace the rib, a rear shaft carried by the carriage-body, a grooved roller at each end ofthe shaft also adapted to embrace the rib of the inner rim, additional rollers carried by the carriage-body and adapted to bear against the outer face of the rib, a brake shoe or lever adapted to rock about the rear shaft, a rocking lever carried at each end of the driveshaft and adapted to control the driving and gripping disks, a brake-operating lever pivoted to the carriage and adapted to be locked into position, and suitable connections between the said brake-operatin g lever, and the rocking lever carried by the drive-shaft, and the brake-lever carried by the rear shaft for simultaneously controlling the driving and gripping disks and the brake lever and shoe forming a part thereof, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses GO'I HOLD LANG-ER. Witnesses ALFRED A. MATHEY, EMIL STAREK. 

